Call of Duty League: Atlanta Home Series Preview
The inaugural season of the Call of Duty League (CDL) heads to its third stop in Atlanta after an action-packed weekend of action in London, where the Chicago Huntsmen defeated the Dallas Empire in the finals to take the first home series tournament of the 2020 season.
Eight of the 12 franchise teams will descend on the Gateway Center Arena for the second home series tournament of the season, headlined by a potential showdown between the in-form Huntsmen and the hosts of the Atlanta FaZe.
Can Toronto Bounce Back?
At the London event, there were some signs of the Toronto Ultra being able to contend with some of the teams higher up the league table. These promising signs of improvement could not have come at a better time for the Ultra, who face Chicago in their opening match of the weekend.
There is an opportunity for them to snatch a map of arguably the best team in the CDL, but claiming outright victory could be a step too far but if they can give Chicago a run for their money, the Ultra will certainly be making moves up the table in the not too distant future.
Round 2 For London
Back in London, it seemed like the perfect storm for the London Royal Ravens to take home their first championship of the season. An incredible reverse sweep of the New York Subliners sent the capacity crowd into raptures and were on the verge of taking down the Dallas Empire but ultimately fell short in a thrilling five-game series.
Main Assault Rifle (AR) player Bradley “Wuskin” Marshall has quickly cemented his position as one of the strongest AR players in the league, consistently featuring towards the top of the kill-to-death ratio leaderboards.
While Wuskin leads the charge in the AR department, Jordan “Jurd” Crowley returned to his position as king of European Call of Duty with a solid performance armed with the MP5 sub-machine gun. If the Royal Ravens can rectify some of the small errors that hindered them back in London, they could well swoop in a snatch a victory away from the grasp of Atlanta and Chicago.
OpTic Gaming LA: Time for Change?
It has been a slow start to the season for OpTic Gaming Los Angeles, a team that fields some of the strongest North American talent. Despite having the likes of Austin “Slasher” Liddicoat and Brandon “Dashy” Otell in the starting line-up, the Green Wall has yet to take a victory but does have the opportunity to cause a massive upset in their opening game against Atlanta.
With Seattle already making a change in a bid for a change of fortune, if OpTic fail to score any wins in Atlanta, is change on the horizon? With Martin “Chino” Chino and Jevon “Goonjar” Gooljar-Lim waiting on the bench, would adding one of these two talents make any form of impact in a team that is already filled with plenty of talent and experience?
The Green Wall need a strong point haul in Atlanta. If not, I think that change will come before the Los Angeles home series, where they will be looking for a good showing in front of their home fans.
Top 3 Predictions
1st: Chicago Huntsmen
2nd: London Royal Ravens
3rd: Atlanta FaZe
With Atlanta and Chicago juking it out to see which is the best team in the entire league, I think that the Huntsmen are the superior team and will be the team taking home their second consecutive home series of the season. The FaZe won’t be too far off Chicago but I think that there are weaknesses in that team that can be fully exploited.
My pick for second place is a surprise but I think that London can put the cat amongst the pigeons and make it to the finals. If this team is firing on all cylinders, there is a very good chance that the Royal Ravens can overcome Atlanta and may even go all the way and grab the win.
We haven’t seen Atlanta play since the opening weekend of the season but regardless of this, Atlanta could well take the entire event but with these three teams all very close together in terms of outright performance, this could well be one of the most competitive events of the season.
